A plea deal was reached Monday morning between a prosecuting attorney and a Montgomery man who was accused of shooting another man in 2017 then striking his own girlfriend with a frying pan while he was out of jail on bond for the shooting.
Marcus Dewayne Blanks, 47, spent the better part of the last two years in jail, and on Monday he pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, domestic battery and recidivism as part of a plea deal that could lead to him leaving prison in as little as nine months, one of his attorneys said.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King accepted the plea deal and sentenced Blanks to a between three and five years in prison with credit for time he’s already served at South Central Regional Jail while his case progressed in magistrate and circuit courts.
The plea deal was binding, meaning Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Maryclaire Akers and Blanks and his court-appointed attorneys, Robbie Long and Michael Cary, agreed on the exact amount of time Blanks would spend in jail, limiting the judge’s discretion in sentencing under the terms of the deal.
Long said Blanks would get credit for about 27 months served in jail, by Long’s calculation.
PHOTO: Marcus Blanks enters Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King’s courtroom in February 2018. On Monday, Blanks pleaded guilty to charges related to his role in a shooting in January 2017 and a December 2017 frying pan attack against his girlfriend.
